William Green (b. 1819 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-8781
Fled from slavery, Oxford Neck, Talbot County, Maryland, circa 1840
Biography:
William Green was born in Oxford Neck, Maryland in Talbot County on the Eastern Shore. He fled from his enslaved existence there sometime around 1840. Information about his Eastern Shore owners is readily available, but very little mentions young William Green. The best information that survives comes from his own narrative detailing his life before freedom.1 The area where he grew up was part of the County's third Election District named Broad Neck Farm, which lies on Bolingbrooke Creek. Green purports that his original owner, Miss Molly Goldsbury (found in sources most often as Mary or Polly Goldsborough), freed his mother Matilda Jackson when he was only three months old. The 1806 will of Mary Goldsborough does provide for the manumission of four slaves, including "Tille," who may be Green's mother.2 The 1821 version also stipulates that "a negro boy named William" would be given to her niece Elizabeth Coward.3 Although his mother was freed shortly after his birth, young William remained a slave, since a black child by law followed the status of his mother at birth. Matilda Jackson had two sisters and one brother who were also owned by Miss Goldsborough. Green's father was a foreman on the neighboring farm of Ignatius Rhodes, whom he described as "the meanest man anywhere about in those parts."4
June 1835 marked a change in William Green's
life.
During the early part of this month his mistress passed away.
Goldsborough had left multiple wills detailing how she wished her
property to
be split amongst her relatives. That year, she
wrote what appears to be the final version of her
will. She describes how she wishes her slaves to be treated,
while allowing them to use a house and a small garden, both of which
are on her property.5 Green is unaccounted for in this document,
which indicates that he had already been passed to one of
Goldsborough's heirs. In his narrative, the enslaved man claims that he
was placed in the possession of her nephew Nicholas Goldsborough
Singleton. Though the original will places him in the possession of
Elizabeth Coward, Green makes no mention of her. The elder Singleton
died
shortly after the acquisition, leaving Green with his son, young Mr.
Singleton,
who Matilda Jackson had nursed as a child. Singleton originally
intended to relocate
to New Orleans, but William's mother fought to keep her child
from
being ripped away from her. With her pleading, Edward N. Hambleton
(whom
Green referred to as Edward Hamilton) agreed to exchanged "a fine
trotting
horse" for the enslaved boy. With this transaction, there was no
mention
of Green's entitlement to freedom at the age of twenty-five. Thus,
Green
effectively became a slave for life in the eyes of his new master. He
contended
that he had been "handsomely cheated out of it[freedom]," a practice
that
was not uncommon since illiterate African-Americans could neither
prove,
nor hope to get legal support in most cases. Mr. Hambleton was a fairly
large landholder according to Green's narrative, owning eight or nine
plantations
on four hundred to five hundred acres of land.6 Census records indicate
that Hambleton owned at least two properties in Talbot County with
anywhere
from twelve to fifty-five slaves.7 At the age of eight or nine, William
Green became a body servant in the Hambleton's main residence. During
that
time, he was also employed as a jockey, riding some of Hambleton's most
prized horses in local races. Green expressed his distaste with this
position,
saying, "riding races being now repugnant to my feelings," and his
master
agreed to let the enslaved man instead be a waiter in the house.8
When William was twenty years old, Mr.
Hambleton's
daughter, Henrietta, was married to Dr. Solomon M. Jenkins. Green was
given
as part of her wedding dowry. Sometime before this exchange
William
Green heard of his mother's death, though he was unable to go visit
her,
allegedly just because Jenkins was "not feeling in the right
humor."
His feelings hardened even more when, about a year later, Green was
compelled
to watch his older brother being carried away to the Deep South on a
chain
gang. William claimed to have even expressed his sadness to his
mistress,
perhaps hoping for a promise of future manumission. He also described
how, about a year before fleeing, he had an intense physical
fight with the Doctor Jenkins.9
The scene was quite similar to that described by fellow Talbot County slave Frederick Douglass, who at sixteen years old, had violently refused a beating from his overseer, Edward Covey.10 William Green had been visiting his sick brother on another property, despite being ordered not to leave the premises when the Doctor was gone. Having previously decided that, "he nor no other one man should whip me," Green fought back when Jenkins threatened such violence upon his return. They struggled for a while until the white man was forced to beg for his bondsman to let him up from the ground. Even with such small victories, Green was deeply unhappy with his lot, exclaiming, "Oh, the horrors of being a slave!" His prospects for freedom became even worse once Henrietta Jenkins, who was very fond of William, died soon after the quarrel.11
When he and Dr. Jenkins had yet another disagreement about the slave's ability to move about the area of his own accord, Green finally "concluded to make steps for Canada." While making arrangements to flee the area with several other slaves, he temporarily hid in the barn of Theodore Lookerman, whom Green described as "one of the worst slaveholders we had in the town." 12
Two of Green's cousins started the journey a couple days ahead of him and his friend, Joseph. Then, the two refugees used a small, stolen boat and took it to a nearby river. Here, the fugitive slaves paddled without oars. After crossing the river, the group walked along a causeway for a little less than a mile. They came to the house of an Underground Railroad agent, who guided them to William's uncle. Considering that it was still 1853, Green was cautious in his description, saying "I first thought I would give the name of this friend, but taking a second thought it occurred to me that he might still be following his holy calling of getting away poor souls out of the prison-house of bondage." His uncle then walked them toward a Quaker accomplice, where Green approximated they were forty miles from his home in Oxford. For a portion of the journey, a couple secreted them into a wagon pulled by a horse to hasten their trip. In a couple of days, they reached "Aunt Sarah's house". She and her husband helped fugitives catch boats headed for Philadelphia, a two day trip. After staying a night in that city, Green made his way for New York on another boat. Once there, the pair found boarding with a woman who was friendly to their mission. After two weeks in the city, a constable came looking for two young men by their description. Green and his friend quickly escaped without the constable's detection with the help of Dr. David Ruggles. After their near escape, the pair headed towards Hartford, Connecticut, ultimately ending up in Springfield, Massachusetts, where a "Dr. Osgood" helped the men get established.13
In that city, Green says that he "takes
a helpmate," and has four children. The 1850 US Census indeed places
him in Springfield living with a black woman named Parthinia and three
young children.14 The publisher of William Green's 1853 narrative, L.M.
Guernsey, was
also located in the Massachusetts city. However, very little is known
about the former Maryland slave in the years following the pamphlet's
publication. Still, Green's narrative is a valuable source for
understanding slavery in Talbot County. It was very bold for a fugitive
slave to publish under his real name, while identifying actual Eastern
Shore slave holders by name. This is particularly brave considering
that the Fugitive Slave Act was passed just three years earlier, making
Green's freedom in Massachusetts all the more tenuous.
Footnotes -
1. Green, William. Narrative
of Events in the Life of William Green, (formerly a slave.) Written by
himself. Springfield: L. M. Guernsey, Book, Job & Card
Printer, 1853. Available online at Documenting the American South,
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Libraries, July 28, 2004. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/greenw/menu.html.
2. TALBOT COUNTY COURT (Register of Wills), Mary Goldsborough, November 13, 1806, pp. 1 - 3.
3. TALBOT COUNTY COURT (Register of Wills), Mary Goldsborough, May 29, 1821, pp 538 - 541.
4. Green.
5. TALBOT COUNTY COURT (Register of Wills), Mary Goldsborough, January 16, 1835, pp 47-49.
6. Green.
7. U. S. CENSUS BUREAU (Census Record, MD), Edward N. Hamilton, 1830, TA,
p 18, 3rd Election District, M70-1, MSA SM61-93;
U. S. CENSUS BUREAU (Census Record, MD), Edward N. Hambleton, 1840,
TA, p 42, 3rd Election District, M4725-1, MSA SM61-118.
8. Green.
9. Ibid.
10. Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass: Autobiographies. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., 1994.
11. Green.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census. Springfield, Massachusetts, p. 272.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.
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